Greetings fellow metalheads! Let’s step outside of our heavy comfort zone for a bit and try something different. I want you all to meet Anika Nilles, the only non-metal musician that has been a constant in my playlist for years. She is a drummer, composer, educator and undoubtedly an inspiring icon among drummers. But I am not a drummer and I am here to present her to you in a different light. Let’s see her from a random listener’s perspective. She has been touring the world, doing shows, clinics, drum camps and what not and she has been doing that for years. She has even released a debut album called Pikalar that I always enjoy listening to and her Youtube channel is a treasure trove of cool vibes. But on the 10th of January she has released her very first full-band release with Nevell, consisting of Joachim Schneiss on guitar, Patrick Rugebregt on keys and Jonathan Ihlenfeld Cuñado on bass. The album is titled “For a Colorful Soul”, it’s just a few days old and I have already given it repeated listens. And there’s a reason for that.
You see, I’m going through a pretty stressful exams period and that means I need to cope with the pressure in a healthy way. And as much as I love technical death metal and the likes, that’s not exactly ideal for slowing down your heartrate. But Anika’s songs have always been the best stress/depression relievers I could find. If I were to try and sum up what’s going on here in terms of genres, I’d probably call it a mashup of progressive pop, rock, jazz, fusion, funk and so on. She has a very unique playing and song-writing style that makes her stand out from, well, anything, but the core of it all is the groove. This music has attitude.
I don’t play drums but I’ve always had a fascination for the instrument and I think she’s primarily responsible for that. When you see a drummer play really fast and technical stuff, it’s impressive. When you see someone doing that in a musical way, it’s even more impressive. But when you see someone go absolutely ballistic in speed and complexity and yet, keep the music sounding soft, fluid and cohesive to the extent to which she does it, it’s just out of this world. And I’ll tell you another thing. The dudes are doing the same thing on their instruments. The amount of talent and hard work in this album is simply staggering. It’s super compact and filled to the brim with passages of crazy instrumental showmanship, and yet, I can just play it on the background while I’m studying and it sets such a cool, relaxing vibe and it doesn’t disturb me at all.
My favourite progressive compositions have always been the ones that keep a musical flow. I love to be challenged by the music I listen to. I am a fan of odd time signature, unexpected shifts, technical plating and all that stuff but it has to make sense musically. And what Nevell have done here is taken complexity and made it appealing. The crammed ghost notes, grooves, polyrhythms and details on the drums are used to amp up the dynamic feel and pump up the energy while making the sound rich and full. The insane passages on that bass (especially on the song “The Age”) have so much attitude that it feels like the instrument is talking to you. The guitars and keyboards create some lovely melodies that are anything but simple or repetitive and yet they’re some of the most ear-friendly things you’ll ever hear. And it all comes together. All the band members show off their skills but they do it in turns and have their moments to do so very well chosen. The songs keep an inviting, groovy pace and the progressive shifts throughout the songs are done with such fluidity that they can seamlessly connect radically different musical phrases and make them fit. The entire band comes together but each member stands out.
And to top that off, the vibe that this album has is amazing. If you’re going through a bad phase and need something to cheer you up, do yourself the favor of listening to this. It’s simply intended to make you happy, going from moody, relaxed, cool attitude to dreamy, airy keyboards and synths and to upbeat, energetic, refreshing bangers. The synth sounds and samples used throughout the whole thing are also very cleverly chosen to fit the mood of the songs. There are all sorts of ambient sounds, weird alternative percussion and some almost childish keyboard tones that are simply precious. It’s honestly the best mood-setter music I ca think of.
To be honest, I think that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much going on in this album and I’m sure that in this review I didn’t dissect even half of what they’ve shown they’re capable of. It was really fun to see how the pre-released songs “Golden Sparks” and “Smooth7” are so different from the versions in the YouTube videos. That was a lovely surprise to complete this gem of an album. Drummer or not, metalhead or not, it doesn’t matter. Just take a load off, sit back, relax and enjoy.
